Learning style preferences of medical students: a single-institute experience from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine preferred learning styles of undergraduate medical students at King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz University for Health Sciences, King Fahad Medical College, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross sectional study of preclinical students with 74 male and 72 female (n= 146) was performed. The validated VARK questionnaire was used to categorize the learning styles of students. The questionnaire consists of 16 items which identify four different learning styles: visual, aural, reading/writing and kinesthetic. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the learning styles of students. Results: The response rate was 70%. The results showed that 5.5%, 11.6%, 2.1 %, and 8.2% of students only preferred the visual, aural, reading/writing and kinesthetic modes, respectively. A further analysis showed that 72.6% of students preferred multiple learning styles. Conclusions: The results of this study can provide useful information for improving the quality of the teaching and learning experiences of students. However, more research on this topic needs to be undertaken before the association between learning style preferences and teaching and learn-ing strategies is more clearly understood.